Alien (1979)

Ridley Scott came to Alien off the back of his debut feature The Duellists (1977), a handsome period piece that announced a director with a serious eye for visual atmosphere, though few could have predicted the scale of what followed. Produced by Brandywine Productions for Twentieth Century Fox, the film drew on a script by Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett, with O'Bannon having previously worked on John Carpenter's Dark Star (1974), another low-budget space comedy that planted some of the same seeds. Made for around $11 million, a modest outlay for a studio genre picture of the era, it returned over $100 million at the box office, confirming Fox's faith after their gamble on Star Wars two years earlier had reset expectations for science fiction entirely. Sigourney Weaver, then largely unknown, took the role of Ripley and turned it into one of the defining screen performances of the decade.

There was a time when this was a solid 5-star film for me Honestly, in terms of atmosphere, tension, and pure cinematic impact, it still is. But on a rewatch in 2025, some of the effects just don’t hold up the way they used to. The seams are showing a bit now, and it's the only reason I’ve marked it down. That said, this is still one of the finest sci-fi horror films ever made. Ridley Scott’s direction is masterful, the pacing is slow-burn perfection, and the claustrophobia of the Nostromo is oppressive in the best way. The set design is iconic. The alien design by Giger is suggestively nightmarish. And Ripley is Sigourney Weaver at her absolute best. It’s a film that redefined a genre, birthed a franchise, and still puts most modern horror to shame. Even with the dated effects, it remains a masterclass in suspense and world-building. If you've never seen it, you're in for a very tense evening.

Rating: ★★★★½  | Year: 1979  | Watched: 2025-04-10

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Where to watch (UK)

Stream: Disney Plus
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Physical: Amazon UK

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Related on Movies With Macca

More from Ridley Scott: Black Hawk Down (2001) · Gladiator (2000) · Prometheus (2012) · Alien: Covenant (2017)
More from United Kingdom: Lessons of Darkness (1992) · Shinjuku Boys (1995) · The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) · Blue (1993)
More from the 1970s: Fantastic Planet (1973) · Here and Elsewhere (1976) · Italianamerican (1974) · Punishment Park (1971)
More horror: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) · Viy (1967) · Nightmare City (1980) · Angst (1983)
More science fiction: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) · Fantastic Planet (1973) · Nightmare City (1980) · The Long Walk (2025)